The Maid and Her Princess

VI. The Gift Giver

Madoka dodged another stray rock that shot out of the clouds while trying to scan for the awoken calamity, but something gold glinted beneath her through the sea of brown upturned land. Audrey! The princess, of course, had no issue dodging the massive boulders and waves of crushed dirt reaching out of the sundered plains like severed limbs. The noise was deafening, but at least she was unharmed.

Madoka watched the monster in disbelief, who seemed to stretch far below the ground and was made up of strange segments or different rocks and metal. Its exposed body seemed like a twisted tower that had been given life, but promptly decided it wanted to die by thrashing around. Furthermore, she did not hear any thoughts from this monster, yet it was lurking beneath them the entire time.

Kind god Ceghinort, Madoka groaned in bewilderment. Do all Gold ranked adventurers go through this when they reach the Labyrinth?

Another dome formed beneath them amidst the swirling terrain, like a rock about to be carried away in a roaring river. The Knotting strands must have belonged to the Adventurers below, caught up in the monster's wake. Madoka tried to yell over the noise, but realized she could not hear anything. Then her Shared Eye tingled. The princess knew something caught her attention and was clever enough to use her eye to see it. Sure enough, Audrey saw the struggling Adventurers below through Madoka's vision.

A terrible groaning noise thundered through the smog. A massive spire, or fin, attached to the beast's body jutted out of the thick storm and the earth began to quake, sending a powerful shockwave directly towards the Sovos's barrier. She swore. They were going to be swept away if she did not do something! Madoka's chest burst with more Knotting magic as she swooped down. The vision of her own back made her notice that Audrey was also following close behind her. To her horror, she realized that the girl was speeding up much faster than she was flying.

The world suddenly went silent as they drew directly into the shockwave's path, but no pain or resistance to her flight came. Instead, a cold dread slipped into her skin. It was more freezing than the rain. That cold magic Madoka noticed was emanating from the princess's glowing Core, which was now visible. It was starry like a galaxy caught in the girl's chest, but more ominous than any of her previous Cores.

Madoka did not have time to marvel. She instead focused her attention to another rushing wave of dirt and wreckage on the verge of collapsing upon them. Audrey would protect the Adventurers and she shall protect Her Highness. The storm of dirt seemed boundless, slamming against Madoka's magic and threatened to consume the two of them.

Through the whirlwind, the shape of the monster became a devouring shadow. Oddly enough, Madoka felt like she had seen the "ruins" that formed its serpentine body. Bits of destroyed buildings, exposed metal framework, crumbling alabaster pillars— all tied together by wires and joints.

The massive spiraling body was getting closer to their barrier, and she was not sure what Audrey was doing behind her. An intense surge of magic was emanating from her, so it was up to her to drive the monster away. She released her barrier, but realized the princess was already shielding the two of them. She shared her vision with Audrey, and saw that she was simultaneously shielding the Adventurers and Sovos swept up on a floating island as well as the both of them. Madoka apologized to her in her head, then redirected her attention to the unknown monster. The part of its body in front of them was only one of many coils now undulating up and down on the plains like waves of torn up cities, uprooted like weeds pulled by giant invisible hands at their center.

You're no Uracksheegal, she thought to it. But I will drive you away.

As if it was responding to Madoka, a loud vibrating roar nearly shook the land apart again. Her hearing instantly deafened and the princess's barrier started cracking apart as the monster let out its heaven-rending scream. No time, no time! Madoka plunged her Crystal out her chest. The princess shrieked.

Right, she looked at the shining, pulsating gem in her hand. It was eager to release all of its energy in an explosion Audrey and her knew all too well. The tingling in her eye and her apprehensive scream of terror meant that Her Highness knew what trouble she was up to. She was certainly yelling something, but Madoka's ears had been blown out by the monster's roar.

"Stay down!" Madoka growled, hurling the golden Crystal straight into the darkness.

The tiny light soon vanished into the depths. Madoka floated in the sky, planning to scoop Her Highness up and fleeing if she did not sense any change in the monster's rampage. a powerful pressure struck the sides of her head. She could sense that was the magic doing its work, and it must have been loud. Her head was rattling, like everything inside of it was threatening to spill outside of her skull. Through her shaking vision a triumphant torrent of light burst out like the sun emerging victorious over the storm. This time, they were knocked back by the violent explosion wiping the chaos away in a neat, cloth-white blinding aura.

The shadowy coils of the serpent swayed, then collapsed like thin trees getting chopped down by the wind. When Madoka's vision returned, the grassy plains they traveled over matched the devestated landscape that the Guardian caused. Audrey's magic held steady! She breathed a sigh of relief, noticing that the sky was also brighter now that the monster was no longer fussing beneath them. Soon, a light trickle fell from the clouds above once again. Shy rain droplets came back, eventually pouring down once more.

The ringing in her head stopped. Madoka turned to her princess with a sheepish expression. Kind gods, she did not over do it, right? The serpent's coils were collapsed like fallen books, causing massive cracks and rifts in the ground. The rifts spread along the plains like huge tangled webs.

"You alright?" Madoka asked the girl. She was disheveled from the storm, but was otherwise okay.

"Am I— Look all around us, Madoka!" Audrey waved her hands all around herself. Her sudden worried appearance struck something in her. It was not guilt. No, it was… Madoka felt suddenly rebellious. If anything, the destruction here now matched the massive blanket of dirt they traveled from and the mess was symmetrical. "Are you good? Why'd you wack it so hard? We—"

A loud alien noise oscillated through the atmosphere again. It sounded like thunder being chopped up and warbled out through a tunnel, constantly replaying the boom, but not the echo. Another crunching noise more familiar to Madoka's throbbing ears roared beneath it, like the crumbling of stones collapsing or even the grinding of rocky gears stalling in irregular patterns. Madoka clicked her tongue. She should have known. The dissonance was enough to tell both of them that the Crystal's bomb was simply not enough to keep the massive serpent down for long.

"What about the people?" Madoka glanced behind Audrey and tried to avoid the ominous glow emanating from her chest. The bubble shielding those stranded adventurers and villagers seemed tiny, but she noticed their figures were like tiny like fuzzy bugs hiding on a brown leaf. She was in awe when she saw that the island was like the floating ones of the Leyline, suspended higher in the air than she initially thought like a puppet on a string. Audrey's strings.

"Magic's holding up fine," Audrey focused her eyes again. They also had the hue of night in them. Purple and blue auroras pierced through the starry light of her magic. It was not Knotting magic, but seemingly a blend between the strands and her own manas swirling inside of them. "The invisible barrier's still there in our way. And, whatever you woke up is getting back up."

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The barrier! Madoka turned her attention as the metallic grating noise steadied into an odd rhythm. The fallen coils of the serpent's body were all sinking underground. It was not until she saw the "end" of its tail sliding up and down into the holes as it slithered. The tip was a bright blue gem the size of a castle. Luckily, none of its body was at their height anymore. Was it fleeing?

Audrey raised her Golden Hand, or the former God-touched hand, and made a swift motion far from the monster's wake. Using their Shared Vision, Madoka watched the island of adventurers move quickly towards her targets location. As expected, despite it swinging rapidly, Audrey had enough control to have it sink as light as a feather.

Ceghinort was too arrogant, Madoka thought wryly. How dare he test them, thinking any of his people would be able to stand near a monster of this size.

Hours passed. The earth shook under the monster's carving body. Yet, the girls remained in a protective shell above it all. Even the plumes of brown earth failed to move them. The noise thundered, yet they remained silent.

Waiting for the world to move on eventually was going to arrive, right? Madoka glanced at Audrey, whose magic remained swirling in her eyes. Even the storm raging within them had purpose. The strands of Knotting magic traveled in her irises. Yet it felt like the chaos was slowly grinding to a halt.

Then, the world got darker. A shadow rose from behind the barrier. Its invisible wall crinkled in waves as the tornados pounded like fists against it. Madoka's pulse slammed against her temples, much louder than the clanging. She growled at the new rising giant. That must be the serpent's head. The massive thing let out a booming, invisible force, evaporating the entire shroud of dust and earth and showing its true form to them.

Looking at its head disoriented Madoka. She heard Audrey gasp from behind her. She had seen Black Serpents in her mind from her brief contact with one, but this being was not anything like it. It bloomed like a flower, each mandible moved on their own. Each of the "petals" were a carapace lined with gleaming rings of metal that shifted. Inside its endless maws was a faint blue glow. Strangely, she did not sense any thoughts or see any magic coming from it.

"It's not gonna shoot us, right?" Audrey voiced the obvious concern.

How was she supposed to know? The monster was as incomprehensible as the past week. Ominous beeping noises invaded her ears as Madoka faced off against it. Its head seemed like the twin moons floating directly in front of her, its immense size threatening to break her mind. It might not be the Uracksheegal, but it was horrifying in its own right. The blue glowing stared back at her like an eye. Then, a voice sounding like a thousand gears and bells rang out in her head.

「Gift Giver 0V174A online. Holy One of the Sky, offer your victory over the Sky to Us. 」

Madoka clutched her head. Her hands went stiff. The voice was enough to make her lose control of her wings and her magic barrier shattered. She heard the princess shout. Her stomach lurched as she was about to plummet, then again as a pair of hands yanked her out of the abyss.

"Madoka?" Audrey called out.

"P-Princess!" Madoka blurted, but realized she was weighing Her Highness down. She quickly pulled the Crystal back out of her chest, letting Audrey go so she could regain her flight.

"Princess?" Audrey's incredulous tone rang out. "Nani?"

The monster on the other side of the barrier let out a roar. The gears twisted, grinding together violently as it hummed. The barrier shimmered, about to shatter like glass.

Madoka swooped upward, her mind racing. The beast was making its demand
again, louder than the first time it made contact. A victory over the Sky, she pondered. What did that mean? Audrey's hand shot in front of her view, then she heard her speak more seriously.

"Your ears were glowing just now," she screamed over the noise, but it might as well have been a gentle whisper against a tidal wave. "What did it say?"

"Offer," Madoka struggled to keep her magic steady, but her voice became a scream. "It said offer your victory over the Sky!"

"The Sky? That's the mech, right? That thing came out of the Uracksheegal!"

Both looked at each other amidst the roaring storm. A realization dawned on them. The Guardian was valuable, was it not? Was this thing going to eat their offering and hopefully leave the area if she gave it away? The wyvern did not seem like it was big enough to feed it. Madoka's hand instinctively clutched the necklace where the storage talisman fluttered against her neck. The voice of the so-called Gift Giver 0V174A rang out louder.

「The Abyss weeps for you. Holy One of the Sky, offer your victory over the Sky to Us. 」

"Do it," Audrey finally said.

"Fine," Madoka gritted her teeth. She pictured the storage portal on the other side of the barrier and prayed to the kind gods it would go through. "You can have it!"

The storage talisman hummed in unison with the Gift Giver 0V174A's rotating maws. The faint white glow pierced the dust clouds, like sunlight. Her spell worked, enveloping the sky above its head with that familiar hexagonal shape. The storage portal was as bright and large as a star, directly over its head. The magic worked!

That is right, she thought. If the enemy is big, she'd better go as big as possible.

The Guardian's halves eclipsed the monster's spinning maws. Each of the enigmatic creature's segmented body parts began to twist and rotate on their own, as if it was anticipating the offering. Then, the deafening sound of two titans slamming into each other rang out in the air. Madoka plucked at the air at some stray Knotting magic strands, clasping them around Audrey's ears.

The princess huddled in Madoka's embrace in the middle of the air. Her wings wrapped around herself. A surge of energy vibrated them, making her realize that the princess was using her magic to keep them afloat from the quaking below and the sky falling upon them from above. The crash blurred everything behind the barrier, but Madoka was simply waiting for it to all end. A streak of red scraped against it, sending ripples, but it held.

The sky was getting dark by the time the booming stopped. The smoke became a mound, looking like yeast rising violently from the earth. There was not much green left, nor was there any solid ground to land on. The massive monster's shadow remained sentinel, apparently surviving the Guardian's broken pieces falling on top of it. The halves were broken in more pieces, shattered at the base of the serpent beast's exposed body. Its maw and its many jaws remained open, pointed directly at the pair. Her skull suddenly pounded as something raced through it. The Gift Giver 0V174A was speaking to her once more.

「Access granted. This Humble One of the Abyss shall grant the Holy One a Gift. 」

"Just like that?" Madoka muttered.

She quietly descended after hearing a massive woosh bound with the wind against her back. That must have been the barrier going down. A small patch of ground seemed like a palace for her feet, which had gone numb from her hovering for so long. Audrey, sensing that things seemed to be winding down, poked her head out from Madoka's arms.

A gasp burst through her ears, making Madoka open her eyes and whirl around. She did not even notice she had them closed. The Gift Giver 0V174A was gone, but the wreckage from its tantrum remained. The shadow of something large peaked out of the original crater where it was once buried in, which somehow remained intact.

"It's… over," Madoka breathed. "Some test that was."

The princess looked at her, making her feel slightly guilty for waking the strange monster up. She did not even know how to defend her sudden impulse to stab its tail. How was she supposed to know the strange ruins that they found were actually alive? Yet, as unpredictable as always, Audrey seemed entirely focused on something else.

"No barrier or strange manas. So it just takes our stuff and bounces?" The princess suddenly scoffed. "It was speaking to you again, but I couldn't tell what it was saying."

"It called itself a Gift Giver," Madoka tried to explain. After Audrey raised a hand to her chin in thought, she quickly added. "It said that it accepted the Guardian and gave us something."

"Huh," Audrey suddenly fell quiet, but the look in her different colored eyes made Madoka realize she was sensing something.

She tensed. Who dared to attack them after this? But her ears picked up a soft ticking sound, coming directly from the crater.

"That's probably the gift it was talking about," Audrey muttered. "Gift Giver… Where have we heard that before?"

She felt the princess's reluctance to separate, but Madoka released her hold instead. With a shake of her boots, the feeling in her feet came back slowly. With the Crystal back inside of her, the energy pulsing within her chest added a spring in her steps.

"Hey! Wait for me!"

Madoka did not wait. She trudged up the crater wall and stood at the edge, then stopped. Her mind identified what she was looking at, but like the Gift Giver, its presence was an enigma. A cube the size of a castle stood silently. It was made up of a bright blue material, with energy clearly flowing beneath its surface. It had indents and indecipherable patterns etched into it, but they looked like tunnels. She could probably walk within them. Before she could try and fly over to their supposed "gift" to inspect it, heavy breathing huffed from behind her.

"You didn't wait for me," Audrey whined. "We've been flying for so long, my legs felt like jelly, Mad— what in the hell is that?"

"I… I don't know," Madoka stared at it.